Location
Northwest Hospital
5401 Old Court Road
Randallstown, MD 21133
Phone: 410-521-2200
Intensive Care Unit (ICU)
The Intensive Care Unit (ICU) at Northwest Hospital provides the best and most comfortable care to help our patients make the best recovery possible. We depend on you, the family, to assist us in providing your loved one with adequate time for rest and care while they are a patient in the ICU.
In order for us to do the best job possible, we ask that you help us by observing the following guidelines while visiting in the ICU.
Thank you for helping us provide the best and most comfortable care for your family member's stay in the ICU. If you have any questions, please contact their assigned nurse.
General Information
- Visitation is restricted to immediate family, significant others and religious representatives.
- Please limit visitors to two or three at a time.
- Please note that stricter visiting guidelines will be put in place during flu season.
- If an emergency or a procedure is occurring in the ICU, visits may be temporarily restricted. If this happens, you will be allowed to re-enter the ICU as soon as it is possible to do so.
- Please bring any eyeglasses, dentures or hearing aides that your hospitalized family member uses.
- Sleeping overnight in the patient's room is not allowed except in unique circumstances. Rest is an important part of the healing process. It is also important for you to take time for yourself, so that you can better support your loved one.
- Visitor restrooms are located to the left of the main elevators.
Safety
- If you are sick or have been exposed to illness, please do not visit.
- Use the hand cleanser prior to entering your loved one’s room and again when leaving the ICU. Hand cleansers are located by each patient room door.
- Children under the age of 12 are only allowed to visit on a case-by-case basis, with the approval of a nurse. Children often carry illnesses that patients do not have the strength to fight.
- To prevent potential interference with medical equipment, all cell phones must be turned off while in the ICU. If you need to use a phone, there are phones in each patient's room and in the visitor's lounge (dial 9 to get an outside line). Cell phones may be used in the lounge.
- Do not give your loved one anything to eat or drink without checking with the nurse.
- Live flowers, plants, food and drinks are NOT allowed in the ICU rooms. This is to prevent the spread of certain types of bacteria. We ask that you eat in the cafeteria, located in the hospital's main lobby.
- Follow isolation precautions posted on the patient's room door. The nurse will help you with any special equipment you may need to wear.
Communication and Privacy
- You will be asked to appoint one or two spokespersons to receive updates on your family member and to take calls from other family or friends. This will give your loved one's nurse adequate time to provide care and consistent communication.
- To ensure privacy and confidentiality of other patients, please remain inside the patient's room or in the visitor lounge.